LncRNA Promotes Myogenic Differentiation by Interacting with PKNOX2 to Upregulate in Porcine Satellite Cells.

Myogenic differentiation is a complex biological process that is regulated by multiple factors, among which long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an essential role. However, in-depth studies on the regulatory mechanisms of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in myogenic differentiation are limited. In this study, we characterized the role of the novel lncRNA , which is upregulated during porcine skeletal muscle satellite cell (PSC) differentiation in myogenesis. We found that affected the proliferation and differentiation of PSC in vitro. We performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), 5-ethynyl-20-deoxyuridine (EdU), western blotting, immunofluorescence staining, pull-down assays, and cleavage under targets and tagmentation (CUT and Tag) assays to clarify the effects and action mechanisms of . LncRNA inhibited myoblast proliferation based on analyses of cell survival rates during PSC proliferation. Functional analyses revealed that promotes cell differentiation and enhances myogenin (), myosin heavy chain (), and myocyte enhancer factor 2 () during myoblast differentiation. As determined by pull-down and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays, the lncRNA interacted with PBX/Knotted Homeobox 2 (PKNOX2). CUT and Tag assays showed that PKNOX2 was significantly enriched on the promoter after lncRNA knockdown. Our findings demonstrate that the interaction between lncRNA and PKNOX2 relieves the inhibitory effect of PKNOX2 on the promoter, increases its expression, and promotes PSC differentiation. This novel role of lncRNA sheds light on the molecular mechanisms by which lncRNAs regulate porcine myogenesis.